User:Brad G. Cousino

Introduction:
Brad G. Cousino (born April 5, 1953) has an inspirational life story. He was born into a destructive and dysfunctional home environment, where he was physically, verbally, and emotionally abused almost every day.

Biography:
Growing up, Brad Cousino knew that his only chance to escape from his early upbringing was to go to college, but there was no money. He hoped to earn a football scholarship, but was turned down from over 2 dozen colleges. He couldn’t afford his college tuition fees. so he got a job cleaning out underground storm-sewers at $5.50/hr to save up to pay for his 1st semester college tuition fees at Miami University, (Oxford, OH). He tried out as a non-scholarship ‘walk-on’ for the Miami football team. (i.e. the classic movie “RUDY”). After going through a challenging series of circumstances, he earned a full football scholarship in his first year. Cousino, as a sophomore, earned a starting spot on Miami’s defensive unit and was recognized as the smallest defensive linemen with a height of 5’11 and weighed less than 200 lbs. in Division 1 football. Brad went on to become one of the greatest players of all time at Miami making the All Century team as well as being THE dominate defensive player in the (MAC). He became the then only two-time defensive ‘Most Valued Player’ of the MAC in (1973 & 1974), and was selected to virtually all the All American teams. Even with his impressive football performance, he was not drafted in the NFL because he was too small but signed as a free agent ($500 signing bonus) with the Cincinnati Bengals (1975). He also played with the (1976) and Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers (1977) and one year with the Toronto Argonauts (1978) of the Candian Football League (CFL). Upon retiring after the1978 season, he owned 69 apartment units, developed Self Storage facilities, and became a Certified Property Manager (CPM) and managed a portfolio of investment-grade commercial and residential real estate valued at over $250,000,000. During the following years, he was successful as an entreprenuer in different businesses. He became the founder of Mini Management Group (Self Storage Properties), Owner & manager of Cousino Rental Properties (69 apartment units) called Colonial Estates, Partner for the Advisory Group, Regional VP for CNL Investment Co., Principal Owner for NextGen Investments among others. He learned many important life lessons by enduring challenging times when he ‘crashed & burned’ in life, suffering personal financial loss of $600,000 only to rise from its ashes better & stronger. His life serves as an inspirational example to learn from all those who have lived through failures, setbacks and personal trauma as he suffered through a miserable childhood, told him over & over that he was “a no good bum, a loser, who wouldn’t amount to anything”. Cousino experienced many ups and downs in life. Despite all of that, he proved everyone wrong and that he was the ‘real deal’. He inspires people to become better versions of themselves both in their personal and professional lives. He now is a keynote speaker, business coach & mentor, advisor, author, consultant, & leader. He is married to Tami (44 years) and is a proud ‘DAD” to 4 adult children and ‘PAPA’ to 11 grandbabies ranging from 12 to 1 years old